Atalanta's Race; And Other Tales from the Earthly Paradise (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Think, listener, that I had the luck to stand, Awhile ago, within a flowery land, Fair beyond words; that thence I brought away Some blossoms that before my footsteps lay, Not plucked by me, not over-fresh or bright; Yet, since they minded me of that delight, Within the pages of this book I laid Their tender petals, there in peace to fade. Dry are they now, and void of all their scent And lovely color, yet what once was meant By these dull stains some men may yet descry As dead upon the quivering leaves they lie. Behold them here, and mock me if you will, But yet believe no scorn of men can kill My love of that fair land wherefrom they came, Where midst the grass their petals once did flame. Moreover, since that land, as ye should know, Bears not alone the gems for summer's show, Or gold and pearls for fresh green-coated spring, Or rich adornment for the flickering wing Of fleeting autumn, but hath little fear For the white conqueror of the fruitful year, So in these pages month by month I show Some portion of the flowers that erst did blow In lovely meadows of the varying land, Wherein ereiuhile I had the luck to stand. Slayer of the winter, art thou here again ? O welcome, thou that bring'st the summer nigh ! The bitter wind makes not thy victory vain, Nor will we mock thee for thy faint blue sky. Welcome, O March ! whose kindly days and dry Make April ready for the throstle's song, 'J'/iou first redresser of the winter's wrong! Yea, welcome, March! and though I die ere June, Yet for the hope of life I give tJiee praise, Striving to swell the burden of the tune That even now I hear thy brown birds raise. Unmindful of the past or coming days; Who sing: ' O joy / a new year is begun; What happiness to look upon the sun ! ' Ah, what begetteth all this storm of b...